Macrobenthos was studied in seven glacial bays situated along the Spit
sbergen coast between 77 and 79 degrees N. The fauna was dominated by
deposit-feeding or carnivorous polychaetes and bivalves. Only 4 of 118
species identified in the collected material occurred in all the west
Spitsbergen localities examined (the polychaetes Chaetozone/Tharyx sp
., Cossura longocirrata, Lumbrinereis fragilis s.l. (sensu lato), and
the bivalve Thyasira flexuosa). Clustering of samples showed a differe
nce between the faunas of east and west Spitsbergen; the latter formed
two subgroups, localities open to Atlantic waters and those from inne
r fjord basins. The fauna in open basins was dominated by cosmopolitan
species, whereas arctic elements shares were higher in inner basins a
nd predominated in the fauna in Bettybukta (east Spitsbergen). This in
dicates arctic, relict character of the inner fjords sites. The biomas
s ranged from 6 to 310 g/m(2) and Shannon diversities from 0.49 to 2.5
4.